Behavioral health unit closing

The inpatient behavioral health unit at IU Health Jay will close — temporarily — at the end of the month.

Hospital officials publicly announced the closure Wednesday afternoon. It had been under discussion by administrators and staff since November.

The unit was closed to new admissions Monday. One patient who was admitted prior to this week remained in the unit as of Wednesday.

The closure was spurred by changes in anti-suicide regulations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that are now being enforced by The Joint Commission, which sets standards and provides accreditation for health care organizations.

“Our unit is not compliant with those new regulations,” said Dave Hyatt, president of IU Health critical access hospitals for the East Central region. “With that said, I have no doubt that we have a safe unit. Unfortunately, knowing that we aren’t meeting those regulations and still providing care could put risk to not just that unit, it could risk the entire hospital’s accreditation status with the joint commission.”

The new regulations predominantly address “ligature risks” — structures in the facility that could be used for hanging in order to commit suicide. Such items could include door handles, plumbing and ceiling structures.

Hyatt noted that IU Health Jay, and previously Jay County Hospital, has never had a suicide in its behavioral health unit.

He said changes to bring the unit into compliance are estimated to cost $500,000 to $800,000. However, rather than simply making those fixes, the facility is looking at an overhaul to its behavioral health facilities as part of an overall capital improvement plan for the facility.

Those would include solving “flow issues” — the unit has 10 beds but just five rooms — among others.

“That’s just not ideal when you’re dealing with some of those behavioral health patients,” said Hyatt. “What we’re currently evaluating is how do we meet the needs of those behavioral health patients in Jay County but also as part of our region. …

“We do envision having behavioral health services in Jay County. We’re trying to figure out what that looks like.”

IU Health Jay staff members are set to meet Friday with architects to discuss plans for improvements to the behavioral health unit.

“We just know that the flow of the unit isn’t effective,” said Jennifer VanSkyock, program manager for behavioral health at IU Health Jay. “And we want to make sure that if we’re going to invest that amount of money into something it’s not just going to be a BAND-AID … but that we’re really going to have a great environment that can really meet the needs of the patients that we’re serving.”

The IU Health Jay Board — it is made up of Dave Littler, Pat Miller, Roger Locker, Janet Bantz, Bill Hinkle, Debbie Kummer, Chuck Huffman, Dr. Dave Brown, president of IU Health’s east central region Dr. Jeff Bird, IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital chief operating officer Lori Luther, and chair of IU Health’s east central region board John Littler — approved the closure of the behavioral health unit in November. But in doing so, it also required that administrators provide a recommendation for overall capital improvements by March.

Improvements being considered include a central sterlization upgrade for the surgery department and expansion of the professional office building on the west side of the facility, Hyatt said.

Those capital improvements would be funded via $5 million that was set aside by IU Health during Jay County Hospital’s integration with the organization in 2018.

The IU Health Jay Board must allocate those funds before it sunsets on March 1, 2021. From that point, the IU Health East Central Region Board, which also oversees IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital and IU Health Blackford, will take over.

The temporary closure of the behavioral health unit at IU Health Jay affects 16 employees. IU Health sought to offer those employees other opportunities within the organization, Hyatt said. Those who choose not to stay with IU Health will receive a severance package.

Outpatient behavioral health services will continue to be offered at IU Health Jay through its telemedicine program in the emergency department. Those in need of inpatient services can still be evaluated at IU Health Jay and will then be transferred to an appropriate facility.

The date for re-opening the behavioral health unit at IU Health Jay depends on the construction timelines, but Hyatt said the goal is to move as quickly as possible.